SWEET stuff man. make all your decisions so we can make this a rolling chassis?

Yeah everything is decided on except for springs. I ordered new springs at 26" eye to eye, but I know they are going to be too short. I may just reuse the 36" eye to eye M416 springs or find some sammy or CJ5 springs. We'll see what the spring hangers look like when they come in. After the brakes and hangers come in, that should be enough to get it rolling. Need to get those tires mounted too.

I guess I posted too soon, got the other parts in today as well. Brakes, hubs, u-bolts, springs, shackles and lots of newspaper.





The pinschers aren't nearly as excited as I am

Looking good man! I had them pull a leaf from my packs to soften them up a bit, afraid they'd be too stiff. Mine are only 3 leaf, instead of 4-being they're SO short at 26 or 27" eye to eye. We'll see how it goes, but I may end up swapping to a Sami pack later or something similar...

BTW-those tailgates I found haven't worked out yet. One was a CJ style, one didn't have one at all on it, one was WAY over priced and not the exact one you wanted. Did find one like you are looking for, but had something crush it so it wasn't worth anything. Whole back of the tub was pretty much crushed. I have one other I need to check on. I'll keep working on it-these are all quite a ways from me so it's tough getting to them. If one works out, I'll be in touch.

Best of Luck,

Mike

Thanks Mike, it's really appreciated! Yeah these springs are way short, so I'll try and work with the stock 416 ones and if that doesn't work I'll find something else.

I have some springs in the garage we could try. Will Dodge 2500 springs be to much? We could remove some of the leafs.

U guys are killin me with the M416 builds...I just missed this one in Maryland for $550:

http://westmd.craigslist.org/cto/1486658581.html

This one in MO looks good but I got no way to check it out! http://springfield.craigslist.org/grd/1477348350.html

The build looks great can't wait to see how it turns out.

Thanks! Yeah keep searching....sometimes they can be VERY hard to locate over here in the West, not so much on the Eastcoast though. You can search for a few months and come up empty, then one week you'll find 8 of them for sale. Expedition Portal has/had a few ones already built up if you wanted to go that route.

This tail gate may be outside the budget but the built in storage is an interesting idea. I have been thinking of using it on the Jeep and mounting a camp stove in the gate.



john

Is this thing done yet

I think we all need to go to Catalog's house and have a "trailer build" work party.....

Noooo. Let's fix me jeep first. TenatiousNOJeep has no need for a trailer yet.

I should say that Catalog and TenatiousNoJay have been over to help. My little disclaimer.

Martha, can you change Tenatious name, now that would be funny.

Anything new on this nice trailer

Oh how I hope nobody with that kind of power sees this thread

Nothing new, still gathering ideas though. Took a break from the trailer to get the Jeep sold and now getting the garage cleaned up and some other little things done. The progress will continue, promise!

It BeTTeR!

that tailgate is NICE, but pricey, think i could fab something like it, or have it done for cheaper, lol

Yeah, no luck finding a tailgate just yet. The next priority is to get this thing on it's wheels, all the body mods can take place at any time after that.

37's!

Stirring the pot are ya? Work is to be continued this week (Thursday)!!! Need to get some stuff taken care of, out of the way, and off my mind. I may not run the JK Rubi rims anymore. Looking at other options to fit over the hubs so I don't have to bore out the center of the rims. Jason, are you back in Iraq again?

Hey Ryan, wise idea not boring the rims-that kinda worried me too when I saw how much you'd have to take off/out of the rim itself. Who knows-maybe the JK rim isn't necked down as much as the Moab, but with the Moab, I'd have had to take way too much to feel safe about.

I got a little done on my trailer the other day-not a lot, but some progress for the first time in months. I'm off Thursday as well and will get a couple days of good work done. I hope anyway if something else pressing doesn't come up.

BTW-sending PM...

Best of Luck,

Mike

Hey Tenacious, I have a silly question. What exactly is receiver tube and how is it different than the structural tube that you built the frame with (other than size?)? Also was the axle you purchased cambered or not and why?

I'll help with the question on steel- the "structural steel" used for the main frame is 2x3 .120 wall rectangle tube. The receiver tube is "true receiver tube" and is totally different from what you'd normally see in most receivers used on the road which is regular 2 1/2" 1/4" wall square tube. That stuff measures roughly 2" center ID and has a seam in it. Notice I said "roughly 2" center ID." True receiver tube like Ryan has for his build is seamless tube, and measures exactly 2" ID for receiver material. It is slightly different from regular square tube in that the corners are slightly more radiused, or rounded so some stingers may not fit without additional clearancing/grinding on the corners if the manufacturer of the stinger used regular square tube for it's production. I used true receiver tube for my build here:

http://www.rubiconownersforum.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=66264

and found that my Lock-N-Roll coupler is an EXACT fit inside the reciever tube. I also have a heavier rated stinger for my 14K tandem which uses the same material and is an exact fit. A couple other stingers I use for my lighter trailers do NOT fit as the corners are more sharp/squared off from being built with regular square tube. Not a big deal as all you need to do to make them fit is take a hair off those sharp corners, then it will slide right in.

Why is this important? On the highway or for regular towing, regular square tube or 2 1/2" 1/4" wall works just fine for most folks. For what I do, and what Ryan will be doing with his trailer though, pulling over rough road in rough terrain, you want a good, solid fit. My last setup with regular square tube had over 1/16" play when I started. A lot of slop in there to begin with. The more I towed, the worse it got, so when I pulled it, it had over 1/8" play at the stinger. This translates to a lot of movement in the hitch, a lot of noise, and a lot of rattle/jarring around as you're pulling off-road. Over time, the worse it gets. Mine was driving me in sane so it had to go. A good, solid, secure, tight fit prevents this from happening and true receiver tube that is made for this is how you do it right and avoid those issues to begin with. Quality doesn't come cheap though-regular square tube material at the time was around $5.00 a foot if I recall. True Receiver tube was around $13 a foot if you paid full retail. Steel prices vary by the day so it could easily be more or less than that now.

On the camber issue-I don't know if Ryan's is cambered or not. Mine is, and I wish it wasn't. With the narrow width, I don't think I'll ever load it heavy enough to level it out. On a wider axle, yes, definitely camber it, but something this narrow-flat is fine and works well. I'm worried with mine I will have uneven tire wear and have to rotate more through all 7 to keep from wearing them on the outter edges even when loaded. HOPEFULLY my 1200 target weight will help off-set that a bit and straiten it some so it's not so bad. Time will tell once it gets finished.

Is yours cambered Ryan?

Best of Luck,

Mike

Wow, couldn't have said it better myself...seriously. Thanks for all the technical detail, Mike (PM me with how much I owe ya) and I hope that answers the question about the differance in true receiver tube. My axle is not cambered, FYI. The work continues tomorrow on the trailer!!!